WHO are we? (the network)
(See also “About the Network“).
I think you will be surprised when I tell you WHO we are. On one hand you may like to know. But there is a part of me that doesn’t want to tell you. I have told you that you are an amazing group of people who delight me.
If I tell you more specifically, you will know about differences. Those differences are normally not observable in email networks – you come to know people just by their ideas, not by their physical characteristics.
Prejudice and stereotypes are largely (not completely) inactivated. Really, we are just a group of like-minded people pitching in and working loosely together.
But here is a sampling of the diversity in JUST MY PART OF OUR EMAIL TREE.
Some of our participants are of
– native North American Indian background,
– different Oriental backgrounds,
– Inuit background,
– Metis
– European backgrounds
– Australian
– African
– people whose origins are in the Indian sub-continent
– many, of course, I don’t know.
– some are several generation Canadian
– we have a few very new Canadians
– and several non-Canadians (people from other countries)
– In age, we have people who are in their teens, 20’s, 30’s, 40’s, 50’s, 60’s, 70’s, 80’s and now 90’s.
– in background we have people from many different walks of life, from “not-gainfully-employed” (like me) to people from backgrounds that are regarded as “influential” in our society.
We can all be influential; “Status is not tied to our roles/jobs/positions or how much money we have, but to how we behave. It is something we do, not who we are.” Our network is composed of people of status!
– we are from various religious / spiritual backgrounds.
– some people are connected to a political party, many not. We have (alphabetically and of which I am aware) Canadian Action Party, Conservatives, Greens, Liberals, New Democrats. Unfortunately, we don’t have anyone from the Bloc. We might have a Communist, I’m not certain.
– we have people from different genders and different gender relationships.
– in temperament we have the passionate to the involved to the aware. All play a role and all are needed.
– collectively we have a fair amount of capability in different languages.
Our emails are flung far and wide. I hear from people I don’t know, and am amazed that in the far reaches of this country we are connected to each other.
That’s impressive!